Pneumatic conveyer system.



W. MoOLAVE.

PNBUMATIG GONVEYBR SYSTEM.

PPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 2a, 1911.

- Patented G. 28, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET '1.

W. MOCLAVE.

vPNEUMATIG CONVEYEB SYSTEM. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 2a, 1911.

Z SHEETS-SHEET Z.

:ileim ....lil Illia( I To all whom t may concern.' y

f I Ji TED STATES PATENT ormoni. Y

.WILLIAM mcc'LAvE, lor scRAN'ToN, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIcNon 'ro MccLAvE-Bnooxs COMPANY, oF scRANroN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

PNEUMATIC CONVEYER SYSTM.

` Be it? known that I, WILLIAM MCCLAVE,

a citizen of the UnitedV States, residing'at' Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and f State ofV Pennsylvania, have 'invented'cere tain nFeWVand useful Improvements in Pneu.-v

' matic Ccnveyer- Systems; `and I` do hereby Hdeclare the following to be a full, clear,

great diiiiculty hasbeen experienced inj discharged separate therefrom.

and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to :the accompanying draw- I ings, forming part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates-to pneumatic conkveyer systems, and is particularly designed; for use as apart ofa mechanism for handling ashes from a battery of furnaces.

In systems to which the invention 1s particularly adapted for use, the ashes from the furnaces drop or are dumped -into a con veyer duct and are transported th'rough the duct and discharged therefrom into a suitable settling. chamber iby an elastic -fluid medium, which maybe compressedair or 25f steam from the boilers. Conveniently, and.

in the preferred system to which the invention is adapted, the elastic {iui'd medium is supplied fromthe boilers by means o-fjets directed .longitudinally of the ductat suitable intervals.- In systems of this character properly confining and separa-ting the discharged ashes, cinders, etc., from the conveying medium and permitting the medium to pass olf into the atmosphere in a substantially dust freed condition, and. it -is one of the objects of the present invention .to p-rovide a means whereby the ashes, cinders, etc., may be caught and settled into a more -or less compact mass which can be readily handled mechanically and the air or gases The form of the apparatus lis such as tooccupy but a small area, and atthe same time the walls of the receiving chamber will be eifectually protected from the scouring and cutting action of the discharged material.

Referring to the accompanying drawL ings,-Figure l is a sectional elevation showing the discharge end of a duct and the building-into which the materials are discharged andwherein the separation of the sol-id frozi-1=tire` gaseous materialsis eifected; Fig. 2 isanfelevation from a point of view at therighta'fFig; l; Fig. 3 1s a section in `Speccatioi1 of Letters Patent.

horizontal plane indicated vby the line dm3, of Fig. 2;. Fig. 4 is anelevation crresponding to the elevation in Fig. 2, but showing a modified arrangement of 'the' parts especially adapted for use where a more complete separation of the line solid ,and gaseous materials is desired; Fig. 5 is a section in the horizontal plane indicated bytheline 5 5 of Fi y Like. letters of reference in the several ifrures indicate the same parts.

In said drawings, the letter A indicates a fof the boilers. At suitable points indicated Iat C, forwardly directed jet nozzlesl) enter the duct and are adapted for the-admis? fsion of an elasticoluid medium 'such as jsteam, from the boilers, whereby any material dumped into the duct will be drawn i or forced thro-ugh and discharged from the Iduct. In accordance with the present in-A vention, 'the duct is curved upwardly, and at its terminal is directed vertically so that material discharged therefrom will be discharged vertically and as a result its ymomentum will be checked and practically 'overcome by the laction of gravity without said material being allowed to strike t-he yconfining walls of the chamber into which it is discharged.'

Inorder to reduce the area occupied by the receiving chamber and to deposit the solid materials at such height that they may readily drop by gravity into suitable vehicles for transportation to their point of ultimate deposit, A`the receiving chamberris of Aconsiderable height and 4of comparatively small area. in a horizontal plane. The walls" 'E of the chamber are preferably rectangular, of masonry construction, but braced and bound together by ties vor eye or channel beams e, e.' At a suitable height in the chamber thus formedv there isprovided an. inclined floor F which may be of reinforced concrete construction and which extends out through a discharge opening G ,to form a spout F', whereby the solid materials may be directed intoa vehiclewhich is run under thespout. The openingsr are preferably conveyer duct preferably formed of cast- Patented oct-28, 1913'. Agpncationled september 28,1911. seriaino. 651,790.

for therece-ption of ashes from the ash pits closed by gates G having counterweights g to facilitate the freedom with which they may be opened and closed.

The conveyer duct A passes up through the inclined Hoor F and to a suiiicient distance above the same to insure its discharge end being always above any mass of material deposited in the chamber and in the preferred construction the discharge end of the duct is in proximity to one of the walls Ffof the chamber. It may be located cenvtrally of said wall, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, or to one side of the center, as indicated in Fig. 4, for the purpose t-o be presently explained. The chamber into which the material vis discharged from the duct and which may be termed a settling chamber, extends for a considerable distance above the discharge end of the duct, thereby forming an unobstructed space into which the material may be discharged upward-ly, but'for the purpose of guiding the currents set up by the discharge of both the solid and gaseous materials, as well as to prevent the formation of eddying currents which would retard the settling of the sol-id material, a deflector plate is provided which extends from a point over and some distance above the discharge end of the duct in a curved path to the opposite side of the chamber. This defiector plate is indicated at H, and

vit may be conveniently supported on the walls E and from the top or cover I of the settling chamber. There is also provided a downwardly extending apron H', adapted 'to protect the inner face of the wall E from abrasion of the material discharged from the duct, although in the form of apparatus contemplated by the present invention, there is no direct impact of the material against either the surface of the wall or against the protecting plate, and any material which contacts therewith is traveling practically in the plane of the surface with which it contacts.

By the construction just described, it will be noted that the material forcibly disA charged from the duct will have its momentum constantly checked by the action of gravity, and the currents set up bv the discharged material while tending upwardly immediately over the duet discharge, will be directed to the opposite side of the cham ber and downwardly by the top deflector. Under the combined actionof the deiiector and gravity, the solid material will move to the opposite side of the chamber from the duct and will rapidly settle to the bottom of the chamber away from any disturbing air currents.

For the purpose of carrying off the gases from which the solid materials have settled thea sides of thechamber are formed into vertical discharge stacks or lines indicated at K in Fig. 2,.the inner walls of said iues being supported on the transverse channel irons e before referred to. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, both of the ilues Kopen into or communicate with the settling chamber at a point ywell above the portion of the chamber which is adapted to contain the separated solid material, but below the portion of the chamber which extends upwardly for the purpose of permitting the momentum of the solid material being checked by gravity. 4

'l`he cross sectional area of the chamber itself and of the iues K are such that the liow of air therethrough will be extremely slow and sluggish; in fact, it is intended to be so slow that even the tinestsold particles will be permitted to settle out of the gases and drop down on the inclined floor F. In this connection it will be noted that the discharg tlues K extend straight up from the lower portieri of the settling chamber and have their lowerv ends entirely free and unobstructed so that material dropping from the gases and air passing up through the fines will drop freely and directly into the settling chamber itselfl and will join the` mass of solid material which is subsequently allowed to flow out `through the discharge the gses, than would be practical from the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the ar rangement shown in Figs. l and. 5 is employed. In this arrangement, the duct A and detlector plate, lettered. H2 in this instance, are located slightly to one side` of the center of the receiver, and one ot' the side tlues, instead of being an upwardly discharging tlue is in the form of what might be termed a diving iiue; that is to say, at its upper end it opens into the separating and settling chamber at L, and at its lower end it opens into the space M below the inclined Hoor F, while the ultimate discharge l'lue K2 leads from the space M upwardly, there being in this instance, preferably but one discharge flue, which corresponds in construction to one of the lues K, but is in communication with the space M below the licor F ot' the settling chamber, as indicated clearly in dotted lines in Fig. Il. In this construction the material discharged from the duct 'A into the settling chamber, will separate as in the former instance, but the exceedingly ine and impalpable dust which does not settle readily, Will pass off and down through the flue L into the 'space M which isof considerable area, and in which it will have ample time to settle, as there will be no appreciable current of gases through the chamber. rlhe gases will pass olf freely through the {lue K2 freed from all solid material. I

The construct-ion of the apparatus is such and 'at the same time the storage vcapacity may be made very'large, L sity for' cartingfaw'ay the ashes at frequent of the" whereby the necesintervals' is avoided.

the duct is directed vaway from the wall atA a slight angle whereby any material which maybe caught by the defiector and its di ire'etion of 'motion'changedvv will be directed downwardly away from t-he. side Wall so that the latter will be saved from' abrasion. In the practical operation of the device, it is found that by discharging the-material from the duct in an upward direct-ion, the

i bottom of the settling chamber is kept practically free from all disturbing currents and, hence, there is no danger of material once settled being carried up `into the air space. This eiiect is augmented and the setvtling of the material aided bythe moisture supp/lied thereto during its transport-ation thrbugh the duct, as practice demonstrates that the steam willadd sufficient moisture `to the smaller particles to cause them to I I vin the side wallsand a Vviw .ticall directed disc agglcmerate slightly or, by increasing their welght, cause them to settle quickly to the bottom of the chamber.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- ;ters Patent of the United States, isf

In a conveyer system, such as described, the combination with `a relatively 'tall and .narrow settling chamber having. vertically disposed side walls, vertical discharge iiues inthe side walls and a bottom discharge for solid material with a closure'for said bottom discharge, of a duct through which the material is conveyed by the pressure of the elastic fluid medium, said duct havingl a vertically directed discharge end located in the chamber at a point substantially midway of the height of the chamber, whereby a free and unobstructed space is left above the discharge end of theduct in upward momentum of the' solid material will be checked by gravity, `and a space will be leftjbelow the discharge end of the'duct for the reception of the solid material.

2. In a conveyer system such as described, the combination with a relatively tall and narrow settling chamber having vertically disposed side walls', vertical discharge lues bottom discharge for solid material' with, a closurefor said bottom discharge, 'of a duct through which the material is conveyed bythe pressure of the elastic duid medium said duct havin a verbarge end locateintheY cham er in proximity to onesidewall a point substantially midway of the height of thellgambegjvhereby a free and unobwhich space the i and atY endof the duct in -w'hichsp lmomentum of the solid materialfwill be checked by gravity, and a space w'illbe left below the' discharge'end of the duct `for tlie reception of the solid material. y It will be noted from-Fig. 1 that the; edge" delector- H remote from the vsi'dekbelow which the materialjis discharged,from-l` 3. In a conveyer system such fdesc'ribed, the combination with a relatively'tall and 'disposedside walls" andl verticaldiscliarge flues i'n' the side walls with the lentrance opening thereto at an intermediate point in the heigli't of' the chamber and' 'ai botto-m discharge for solid material, of a duct through which the material is conveyed by the pressure of an elastic fluid medium, said duct having 'a vertically directed discharge end located in. the chamber in proximity to one way of the height of the chamber, and a curved deiiector extending from the side Nwall above said duct over totheopposite side wall, whereby air currents ascending along one of the side walls will be directed to and down the opposite side wall.

4. In a conveyer system such as described, the combination with a relatively tall and .narrow settlingchamber having vertically disposed side fines. in the side walls with the entrance opening thereto at an intermediate point in the height of the chamber anda bottom discharge for solid material, of a duct through which the material is conveyed by the pressure of an elastic fiuid medium, said duct having a vertically directed discharge end, 'located in the chamber in proximity to one side wall, and ata point-substantially-midway of the height of the chamber, a curved deiiector extending from the side wall above whereby air currents ascending along one of the side walls will be directed tov the opposite-side wall, and a side wall protecting apron extending from the duct discharge' to the'lower edge of the detlector.

5. In a conveyer system such as described,

disposed side walls, charge iiues in the trance oppositely disposed disside walls with their enmaterial is conveyed elastic fluid medium, said'duct having a verfA tically directed discharge end locat/edain/the and below said duct discharge, whereby the 4momentum of material blown intorthe'chamside wall, and at a point substantially mid-f the combination with a relatively. tall and narrow settling chamber having vertically 5 ystructed 'space :is lett/'above the discliarge ace the y'upward narrow settling chamber 4having 'verticall A- Y walls and vert-icalA discharge said duct over to the opposite side wall, l

and down,

.openings at an intermediate point in the helght of the chamber, said openings- Ithe opelilnggbf a duct through which the by. the pressure of an 121i chamber in proximity to one/side wa'll and A intermediate thedischarge'iues, there 'being--l 'a""free'pnd/miibstructed space both alcove'v 5 iso ber will be checked by gravity with a minimum scouring of the Walls a storage place provided for the reception of the solid material below the duct discharge opening.

G. A settling Chamber for ccnveyng sys,- tenis comprising a relatively long and narrow vertically arranged chamber provided with a curved (leflector plate at the top and two vertical exhaust flues arranged in parallelism on opposite sides of the chamber, the entrance ends of said fines located Substantially midway of the height of the chamber, an inclined bottom for said Chamber, a duct through which material is conveyed into the chamber having its outlet located high above the upper,y end of the inclined bottom and between the entrance openings to the exhaust Hues.-4

VILLIAM MCCLAVE. Witnesses MELTON W. LowRY, D. J. LINDLEY.' 

